Vehicle-top construction



Feb. 16., 192e. 1,573,180

W. MARSHALL VEHICLE TOP CONSTRUCTION Filed August 25, 1924 ATTORNEYS i a citizen of the United States of America,

rails.

Patented Feb. 16.1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MABSALL, F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 BRIGGS MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION 0F MICHIGAN.

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Application filed August 25, 1924. Serial No. 734,128.

To all lwhom z't may concern:

Be itknown that I, WILLIAM MARSHALL,

residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicleflop Constructions, of which the following is a speciiicatiomreference being had therein' -to the accompanying drawings;

This invention relates generally to vehiclev tops and refers more particularly totops designed for vehicle bodies of the vclosed type .One of ,the essential objects o f the invention isvto provide a strong and durable top having a deck that is preferably formed of laminated kraft paperf Another object is to provide a metall-ail that is preferably provided with means for `supporting the V deck upon the top frame of the vehicle body and 1s also provided with means for receiving and conveying away rwater draining off from the deck of the top.

A further object is to-provide simple and ei'ective means for concealing" the joint be.

tween 'the deck of the top and themetallic Still 'anotherl'ob'ject is to provide a vehicle top that is simple in construction and which can be manufactured at a comparatively low lcost.

i'. i y appended claims.

.mvention. Y

With the above and other objects in Vview the invention consists in certain-novel fea- "tures of construction, combinations and ar- 5,35

rangementsof parts as will be more fully described andparticnlarlypointed out in the In the accompanyingl drawing; y .Figure .l isv a yvertical sectional view through atop figure 2 is da fragmentaryperspective l ,view thereof.

vFigure 3 isl a vfragilientaryi perspective I view of 'arslightly modiedform'mof construction; n, z Figure 4 1s a fragmentary perspectlve [view-of anothermodiiied form of construc- I AFigure- 2; y.

' tion.

Figure lis an .enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the top deck shown in .'1 Referringnnowto thev drawing 'in which i flikecharacters of lreference designate corresponding-parts through the several views,

v represent imitation leather.

. ing the rail 3 longitudinally .viding a fiat bearing construction embodying my.

' strips 10 by the same tacks 11 used to secure the numeral l 'designates atop embodying my invention having a deck 2 that is preferably formed oftive ply laminated kraft paper which preferably has been treated to this deck will be absolutely waterproof, the plies forming the same are preferably connected together by asphalt. The finished sheets are then cutto the desired shape and are secured to the metallic rails 3 which are In order thatin turn secured to the metal top frame 4 of the vehicle body.

-As shown 'in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawis preferably curved slightly transversely throughout its length and is provided at its upper and lower edges with extending channel-shaped portions 5 and 6 respectively that are' preferably welded to the back 7 and forwardly extending flange 8 of the metal header strip 9. The upper channel preferably receives -several strips 10 of laminated kraft paper to which the deck 2 ofthe top is preferably secured bysuitable tacks 11, while the lower channel 6 is designed to receive and convey away the water draining olf from the deck 2 and rail 3. For holding the strips 10 in the channel 5' and at the same time -prosurface forthe deck 2 of the top, the channel 5 is preferably provided at its inner edge with a horizontal outwardly extending fiange 12 which prefer- `ably extends over the strips 10 and Aterminates short of the outer wall 13 of the chan- Ynel to provide a suitable space for receiving the tacks. 11. Any suitable means suchas the ear 14 may be used to conceal the joint between the rail 3 and the deck 2 of the top. As shown, this beading is preferably of standard constructionand is secured to the the deck 2 to the strips 10.

In Figure 3 o/f the drawing I have shown a preferably Y 20 that connects the longitudinally extending channels 21 and 22 respectively Vith this construction, the channel 21 preferably opens outwardly and is'provided at its upper edge wtih a depending'flange 23 that holds the strips 24 of laminated kraft paper slight modification in which the.- rail isf.

provided with a vertical portion in place, the deckK 25 being preferably bent over the upper end wall 26 of the channel 21 and against the flange 23. Suitable tacks- 27 are preferably used to securethe depending portionf28 of the deck 25 tothe str ips 24 and are also used tosecure the binding 29 that conceals the joint between the deck.

and rail 20. v

In Figure 4, I have shown still another modification in which the rail 30 is preferably of inverted yL-shape in cross section and is provided at its lower edge with a channel shaped portion 31 that forms the drip through for the top. As shown, the

horizontal portion 32 of the rail isV preferably offset upwardly to provide a flat bearing surface for the deck 34. "Wit-h this construction the deck 34 is preferably secured to the horizontal portion 32 of the rail by suitable rivets 35 which are also used to secure the metal finish strip 36 to the rail 30 for concealing the joint between the horizontal portion 32 of the latter and the deck 34 of the top. This iinish strip 36 preferably conforms in shape to the offset' portio-n of the rail and is provided at its outer edge with a longitudinally extending depending flange 37 that rests on ythe horizontal portion 32 of the rail at the outer edge of the deck 34 and conceals the latter.

While it is believed that from the foregoing description, the nature "and advantages of the invention will be readily ap Gl l.

parent, I desire to have it understood that 'I do not limit myself to what 'is hereinA shown and described, and that such changes may be resorted to when desired as fa within the scope of what is claimed.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. In a vehicle top, the combination with a channel-shaped frame member, of a deck above the frame member, and a-rail bridging the channel of the frame 'member and supporting` the deck,` said rail having a `channel-shaped portion upon one side of the frame member-for .receiving and conveying away the water draining from said deck.

2. In a vehicle top, the combination with va channel-shaped frame member of a deck above the frame member, a rail bridging the channel of the frame member and supportingthe deck, said rail having a channelshapedvp'ortion upon one side of the frame member for receiving and conveying away the water draining from said deck, and means for securing said deck to said rail.

3. In a vehicle` body, the combination with a header, of a drip rail having a channelshaped portion at its upper edge secured to the header, a deck extending across the channel-shaped portion of' the drip' rail,

laminated plies in the channel-shaped portion of the drip rail,.means for holding the plies in 'position including a flange project- Y' ing froma wall of the channel-shaped porv tion of the drip'rail, said ange forming a beading concealing an edge of the deck,

and means securing the beading and deck to the anchorage member inthe channel of said rail.

5.I In a vehicle body, the combination with a channel-shaped header, of a drip rail extending longitudinally thereof having a channel-shaped portion secured to thev rear/ wall of the header, a deck extending over the channel-shaped portion of the rail, an anchorage member for the deck in the channel-shaped portion of the rail, means concealing an edge of the deck, and a commonv means for securing the deck and concealing means to the anchorage member'.

6. In a vehicle body, the combination with a channel-shaped header having a laterally j extending flange, of a drip rail extending longitudinallyv of the header having longitudinally extending channel-shaped portions at the upper and lower edges thereof secured respectivelyjto the back and' flange of said channelfshafped header, an anchorage member in the upperchannel, vand a top deck extending across the upper channel secured to said anchorage member.

' 7 In a vehicle body, the combination with achannel-shaped header having a laterally extending flange, of a drip rail bridging the channel of the header having a longitudinally extending portion atthe lower edge thereof securedV to the flange of the channel-shaped header, an anchorage vmember secured to said rail, and a top deck secured to said anchorage member.

8. In a vehicle body, the combination with a header, of a drip, rail having a channelshaped portion at its upper edge secured to said header, a deck extending across the Achannel-shaped portion of the drip rail, an

anchorage member for the deck in the chan-YV nel-shaped portion of the drip rail, and means for securing the anchorage member.

deck?. to" said 1,

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.. l l

I i l wniLrAM 

